Video on West Virginia Propane Explosion Wins Safety Award

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has received an award for a training video about a fatal propane explosion at a convenience store in southern West Virginia.

An online teaching group presented the award to the safety board.

The January 2007 explosion in Ghent killed four people and seriously injured six others. Two of those killed were volunteer firefighters.

Federal investigators placed blame on a 500-gallon propane tank that was too close to the building and on a lack of training for technicians and emergency crews who failed to evacuate the store.

The video, “Half an Hour to Tragedy,” gets its name from the time that passed as leaking propane filled the store and eventually ignited.